FARMERS on Thursday said the National Food Authority (NFA) sold millions of sacks of rice to private traders since 2019 without going through the bidding process, and said the improper sale early this year of 75,000 bags was just “the tip of the iceberg.”
In a statement, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) said that in 2021, the NFA sold about 5.6 million bags of rice, each weighing 50 kilos, to private buyers under the guise of disposing of aging stock.
This accounted for about two-thirds of the total volume sold by the agency during the year, while the remaining portion was allocated to calamity assistance and relief operations, said FFF National Manager Raul Montemayor.
The farmers group added that in 2022, the NFA sold 4 million sacks of rice to private traders, again claiming that these were aging stock. This comprised more than 70 percent of its total sales for that year.
“The rapid disposition of its rice supplies in 2021 and 2022 resulted in the severe depletion of NFA’s inventory, with the agency having only 3.5 days of national consumption requirement at the end of 2022,” the FFF said.
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The group said the 9.6 million sacks sold in 2021 and 2022 amounted to P12 billion, as a 50-kilo sack was sold for P1,250.
Montemayor said the alleged sale of about 75,000 bags of aging stock to private traders early this year was only a small part of the total picture.
“Much larger transactions occurred in previous years, with buyers paying only P25 per kilo without going through bidding,” he said.
Additionally, Montemayor said there were instances where the sales were documented after the rice was actually transferred to buyers, allowing the transactions to be categorized as the disposal of old stock.
The FFF estimated that during the first two months of 2022, only about 153,000 sacks of rice derived from palay bought in July and August of the previous year could be considered aging stock.
“However, records show that the NFA sold a million bags of rice to private buyers during the first two months of 2022,” Montemayor said.
Newly appointed NFA Officer in Charge Larry Lacson said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has already ordered the investigation of the alleged improper rice sales since 2019.
“So I think it would be best if we wait for the result [of the investigation],” Lacson said.
Under Republic Act 11203 or the “Rice Tariffication Law (RTL),” the NFA is required to maintain rice buffer stock equal to at least nine days of national consumption and distribute it solely to calamity victims.
The RTL’s implementing guidelines, however, permit the agency to sell aging stocks to private entities if the palay has been stored for over six months, or three months for rice inventories.
Montemayor urged the Department of Agriculture and the Ombudsman to speed up their investigations of the buffer stock anomalies under the NFA so it could return to its normal operations, especially with the upcoming harvest season.
“It cannot move with so many of its top officials suspended for six months and some warehouses reportedly padlocked, pending the results of the investigations,” Montemayor said.
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